←Recommendations of Plagues, Turnips, and Other Romantic Gestures

I loved Carpenter's style— her writing is unique, whimsical, and specific, present from the very first scene. The play manages to be poignant and silly at the same time, and raises questions that are deeply relevant in a during- and post-pandemic era.

The community of national and local readers for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in 2021 enthusiastically recommends OUR BLACK DEATH as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We highly enjoyed this whimsical and highly stylized journey through the bubonic plague, told with a strong queer voice centering femme characters. We were compelled by the play's assured pace and the magic in the storytelling, with a sense of hope amidst a plague. We hope this play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators, and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021

Loved this dark tale of the plague, at once tender and brutal, funny and ruthless. Beautifully intricate.

Our Black Death by Lindsay Carpenter was part of the 2020 NNPN MFA Playwrights’ Workshop, a partnership between the Kennedy Center Education Department (the American College Theatre Festival) and Stanford University’s National Center for New Plays

A brisk, darkly whimsical tale of love (be it genuine or at any cost) in the end times, "Our Black Death" infects us with visceral stage pictures and a vast, complex web of manipulation and desire. It's also ridiculously, absurdly funny, underplaying most of its cards until the shocking acts of the characters are already upon us, surprising themselves as much as the audience, if not moreso. This one is going to stick with you for a LONG time, and it deserves to. This would be tremendous to see on stage and I hope it soon will be.

Our Black Death is immediately captivating. The playwright has crafted a world of extreme immediacy, where the urge to survive is spurred on by true love, potions brewed with shorn hair and tears, murder and - all too relevant - the looming threat of the plague. This is a fascinating examination of self-possession.

A darkly funny, wildly entertaining, and delightfully menacing tale of love in the time of plague. Carpenter's characters are often manipulative and selfish, but they are consistently likable and sympathetic. I especially found Bit's yearning to learn more about the world beyond her poignant. Although frighteningly relevant to the current pandemic, this is a play that asks deeper questions about how our behavioral and moral codes alter when the world is on the verge of destruction, and how they intersect with gender and class. Well worth a read!